


through the years and far away

by zapprenfro



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, M/M, help me i cant stop writing sad things, voices of a distant star AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 15:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12015987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zapprenfro/pseuds/zapprenfro
Summary: Somewhere down there, under the spaceship’s massive engines was Jinyoung who had seen him off with a smile and a “promise me you will text from Mars, I’ll be waiting!”, Jinyoung who had covered his own fears for the sake of sending the younger off with a calm heart. Jinyoung who promised to wait for him.





	through the years and far away

**Author's Note:**

> im back on my bullshit with the voices of a distant star au jinhwi no one asked for but i wrote anyways  
> not beta'd so excuse any mistakes in my english  
> the soundtrack of the movie i listened to while writing which can also set the mood pretty well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyOeyjggPI

Daehwi is 16 years old when he is recruited from middle school to the Space Army. The year is 2046 and humanity is beginning to take its first steps beyond the Milky Way, the UN Space Army are recruiting as many promising young pilots for Tracers as they can straight from academies. They need young kids in good shape, who are intelligent and physically able to control the massive robots in space, even more now that the aliens named Tarsians had started showing signs of rebellion against intruders on their planets. Daehwi had always done well in his studies, but if someone asked him he would’ve rather stayed on Earth and worked for the army down there. No one however asked and he was due to leave the following summer after completing the school year. The black haired boy stares out of the class window lost in thought, eyes fixed at the blue sky contemplating whether he would ever see Earth again after leaving. He doesn’t notice a familiar set of light brown hair paired with deep brown eyes peep through the class door. “You’re daydreaming again,” Jinyoung hums from the door, making his way to Daehwi’s desk. The younger is startled for a moment but cracks a smile upon noticing the elder. “I’m thinking about returning to Earth.”

“You haven’t even left yet,” Jinyoung notes with no bite in his voice. Daehwi puffs his cheeks and starts gathering his belongings from the desk. “Anyway, let’s go home.”

 

* 

 

One could’ve thought Daehwi and Jinyoung were an odd match up, the younger being a literal firecracker with never ending smiles and energy while the elder kept mostly to himself, seemingly bored and monotone most of the time. But whereas Daehwi had the skill to make Jinyoung smile and laugh, Jinyoung balanced Daehwi out and calmed him down when needed. Jinyoung being a year older, the pair had gotten to know each other in elementary school and spent most of their school life together. Something that had become so natural, Daehwi and Jinyoung spending their days together, was about to end.

“Hop on.” Daehwi didn’t have to be told as he was already climbing behind Jinyoung to sit on the rack of his bike. Wrapping his arms around the taller boy and leaning his head against the other’s back the scenery started moving in front of his eyes as Jinyoung leisurely pedaled forward. Endless fields surrounded by thick woods, there was nothing in particular in their small town that made its living with farming. Distances were long and Jinyoung’s bike was the only reasonable way to travel back and forth. It took 15 minutes to reach the town’s market and another 15 for them to reach the area where Daehwi lived with his family, Jinyoung lived another 5 minutes away.

Daehwi could feel a faint breeze of wind as he stared at the orange sky spreading above them, the sky that would soon become his home, instead of this familiar feeling of Jinyoung’s back against his cheek. It wasn’t like him to feel so down, but it also wasn’t like him to leave everything that he was familiar with behind and start a new life somewhere far away. “Want to drop by at the market? I’ll buy you ice cream to get that frown off your face,” Jinyoung offered without even needing to see the face the younger was making, the silence dragging on between the two of them was enough to spell everything out.

While they’re eating their ice cream in the small shelter sitting beside the market Daehwi holds an animated conversation by himself about how they should get out of this small town where it took 30 minutes by bike to get home and move into a bigger city together once they complete their academy studies. Jinyoung listens in silence, picturing the future they will never have in a city far away from here, where Daehwi isn’t as talented and bright. Where Daehwi doesn’t need to leave for the sake of humanity. On their way home UN Space Army’s cargo train makes them wait at the crossing for 5 minutes as it passes by with a speed so slow it almost felt mocking.

 

*

 

Jinyoung slows down his pedaling as they hear Tracers flying above them on the sky painted orange by the setting sun. Their pace halts into a stop as both of the boys stare at the lines of white the massive robots leave behind as they continue their way into the horizon.

“I’m going to fly one of those you know,” Daehwi says to no one in particular, Jinyoung nods his head in silence and gets back on the bike. The elder hasn’t voiced it to Daehwi but he can tell the other is worried, probably even more than the dark haired boy himself. Jinyoung, probably more than anyone, wished Daehwi could return home safely. Daehwi doesn’t want to put too much thought into the option of not returning.

 

*

 

It’s raining a week before Daehwi’s due date, so they stop by at the shelter beside the market and wait for it to pass.

“Messages take a month to get to Earth from Mars, you know,” Daehwi’s frowning while fixing his eyes on the rain falling in front of them, leaning his head on Jinyoung’s shoulder.

“I will wait for your messages anyway,” Jinyoung’s voice is unreadable, but Daehwi has known the other long enough to tell he’s trying to keep himself composed. During the time they had just gotten to know each other Daehwi had no clue of how to read Jinyoung’s poor display of emotions and it had caused him quite the amount of headaches trying to figure out what the elder meant. But as time passed by and they basically grew glued into each other the mystery of Jinyoung had started unraveling to the younger, slowly but surely.

“You need to wait, even if it takes 100 years you need to wait for my message,” the younger playfully pokes Jinyoung’s side, forcing a smile out of the elder.

“You know I will.”

Daehwi smiles and thinks distance can be overcome even if they are separated by space and time, literally. The bond he has with Jinyoung, the younger ponders, isn’t something that comes undone so easily. On their way home another UN Space Army cargo train holds them off for 5 minutes as it steadily passes by.

 

*

 

Loneliness is an unfamiliar feeling to Daehwi. Jinyoung had always been by his side on Earth, the presence of the other something he had taken for granted before. He doesn’t remember a time without Jinyoung simply being there. Sitting inside his Tracer, Daehwi learns loneliness is his only company in space. Of course, there were other pilots and the whole crew of Lysithea, their mothership, but none of them could fill the void that had been shot into his chest as he watched Earth disappear below him. Somewhere down there, under the spaceship’s massive engines was Jinyoung who had seen him off with a smile and a “promise me you will text from Mars, I’ll be waiting!”, Jinyoung who had covered his own fears for the sake of sending the younger off with a calm heart. Jinyoung who promised to wait for him. Daehwi feels his eyes wet as he stares at his phone screen.

_June 3 rd, 2046_

_To: Jinyoung_

_I’m in Mars! We aren’t really doing anything special, just practice runs with Tracers and training. There is another pilot who is the same age as me so I’m not that lonely here. There hasn’t been any sights of Tarsians, but we’re keeping our eyes open. I hope you’re doing well and when you look up you can think of me who is a month away by text. I kind of miss the sunset and riding your bike for 30 minutes, there is no wind in space. Take care of yourself, Jinyoung who will read this in a month!_

As he clicks send the screen says, “Sending 1 month, 6 minutes, 19 seconds”.

 

*

 

On July 3rd on Earth, Jinyoung’s phone signals he has received a message. An easy smile spreads on his face as he reads the contents of the message and types a quick reply, indeed paying a glance at the blue sky behind the classroom’s window, wondering if Daehwi is still practicing on Mars or preparing to move forward.

 

*

 

After four months of intensive training on Mars, Daehwi and a handful of other talented pilots are chosen to change locations Saturn, where Tarsians had last been spotted. The distance from Saturn makes the messages send for 3 months.

_October 17 th, 2046_

_To: Jinyoung_

_I was picked as one of the elite pilots to move on first and secure our spot on Saturn in case Tarsians are lingering around there. It will take even longer for my messages to reach you, and yours to get back to me, by the time you get this message I will already be on Saturn and if you text me back immediately it will be 3 months since I’ve heard from you by then. So Jinyoung 3 months away, take care of yourself and make sure I hear from you! I’m starting to miss the rain on Earth as well, everything here smells so clean and artificial I wish I could smell the rain again._

 

Jinyoung’s smile changes to bittersweet as he reads the message over and over again, before typing a reply that would be 3 months late and Daehwi would’ve possibly strayed even further away from him by then. The feeling of someone slipping right through your fingers, Jinyoung learns, is the most painful thing he has experienced.

 

*

 

Taking out Tarsians is fairly easy, Daehwi learns. It’s like he was born to sit in control of a Tracer, as if it was a natural part of his body at this point, working exactly the way he needed it to. He accelerates his Tracer’s speed and takes a steady aim at the enemy flying a safe distance away, the spaceship’s design reminding him of a sting ray. Aim, press with his right index finger and the Tracer sends a missile towards the moving figure. One shot, a clean kill, the sting ray-like ship explodes into nothing. “Nice shot 06,” Lysithea’s commander can be heard through the intercom.

“I could’ve taken that one out,” Daehwi can hear a fellow pilot whine while coming up from behind him. He can see Guanlin’s tall figure sitting in the head of the massive Tracer where the control deck was located, looking tiny as ever compared to the robot he was controlling.

“Whatever Guanlin, your aim is worse than mine. You always take two shots to kill,” Daehwi lets his confidence be heard just to piss the other pilot off. Just as Guanlin is about to start a full-blown space fight their commander cuts them off. “06 and 11, return to Lysithea, no more sightings of Tarsians.”

 

*

 

Jinyoung spends most of his senior year waiting. Waiting for another message for months when each day felt like a year. He stares into the rain in the shelter beside the market, holding Daehwi’s favorite ice cream in his hand, his phone sitting next to him on the wooden floor with no new messages received. He was going to move into Seoul once he graduates, so when Daehwi comes back he could return into the dream of the life they had.

 

*

 

Daehwi is sitting at the other end of space shaking in his Tracer, their command had come and they would move to Agartha, the first planet discovered beyond Milky Way. Distance between him and Jinyoung: 8 years. He tries to stop tears from flowing as he types out a message, hoping it would be on its way to Jinyoung before he gets too far from the Solar System.

_May 31 st, 2047 _

_To: Jinyoung_

_I’m going to Agartha! We’re finally going to explore somewhere no one has ever seen before and we honestly don’t know what to expect. I’m getting really good at shooting Tarsians, my kill count must be way over 30 already and I have the best aim in my whole team. You would be proud of me if you could see, I mean you always told me I was good at everything I do. I miss you Jinyoung, I really do. The next time you hear from me won’t probably be any time soon. But I hope you’re doing well after graduating, take care of yourself._

The words he wants to write to the end die in his throat before he can type them out and he presses send, burying his small face into his hands. The boy lets out a weak sniffle before pulling himself back together and heading to the launch deck.

“06, ready for take-off,” he speaks into the intercom, and so he is launched into the blackness surrounding him everywhere.

 

*

 

After hearing Daehwi headed out to Agartha Jinyoung waits for so long he doesn’t know when he gave up on it. Simply following his everyday life in Seoul without any received messages he wishes he could forget, but the void in his chest makes him stare at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes until the sound of traffic finally lulls him to sleep. The words he didn’t type to the ending of his message gnaw his insides every moment he spends conscious.

 

*

 

Agartha has similar living conditions to Earth, there’s green grass Daehwi hasn’t seen in over a year, weird forms of life that the humanity has never acquainted with before, and even rain. Daehwi stands still in his Tracer and stares in awe at the sky that was indeed dropping water down on him right now. The boy had never wished to badly he could smell the rain and take himself back to the days Jinyoung would pedal faster to get them to the shelter before they would get completely drained by the spring rains. The older would pant as if he had just run a marathon and flash a small smile at Daehwi who looked like a drenched puppy in his wet school uniform. The younger wished he could see that smile on Jinyoung again and wondered if he had grown much since he had left. How much would Jinyoung have changed in a year. Hurriedly, Daehwi fishes out his phone and types a message.

_July 2 nd, 2047_

_To: Jinyoung_

_I’ve arrived in Agartha! You would be surprised by how much this place resembles Earth, I’ll be working here for quite a while and it will already be 8 years from now when you receive this message. So, to the Jinyoung who is 26 years old, this is the 17-year-old Daehwi. You’ve waited haven’t you, just like you promised you would. I’m sorry it takes so long for you to hear from me.  There are a lot of things I never told you when the distance was smaller, I wish I had told you how much I wanted to hear your voice, how much I wanted to go home together again, how much I wanted to spend time with you like we always used to. I really want to see you again. I miss you._

It wasn’t like Daehwi never wanted to quit his mission and go home before, but right now the distance between him and Jinyoung felt unbearable. Daehwi, for the first time, felt a desperate need to return to Earth and tell Jinyoung what he had never during all those years they had known each other voiced. What they had both acknowledged but never brought up because it was so obvious. He wanted to go home, to Jinyoung, and tell the boy with deep brown eyes that only seemed to light up when he was with Daehwi, that he had been in love with him all along. He feels tears run down his cheeks.

“All Tracers return to Lysithea, Tarsians spotted in the north, defend the mothership. I repeat, your mission is to defend the mothership.”

Daehwi can feel his blood turn cold as his body reacts faster than his mind and he turns his track towards Lysithea. Accelerating his speed and preparing to aim at any Tarsians in sight, his breath hitches as he realizes he never saw this many Tarsians at once. There had to be at least a dozen of them, all crawling nearer the bunch of Tracers surrounding Lysithea. He takes his aim and shoots the first one, clean kill. He helps out an older pilot who had two coming for him at once and speeds up to take his spot in the formation beside Guanlin. He can see the other carriers being lost one by one as Tarsians mercilessly shoot at the spaceships. Not even the elite team were trained to handle this many enemies at once and they’re quickly losing their ships and Tracers to the aliens. Daehwi takes another steady aim and wonders if his message will reach Jinyoung before the news of the battle will. Jinyoung will worry for nothing if the news gets out before he has a chance to say he has arrived. A Tarsian approaches unexpectedly from his left that was uncovered and he can hear Guanlin’s voice yell “06, left!” before he takes a direct hit and his control panel starts flashing red.

“Emergency” flashes on every screen on the Tracer’s control deck as Daehwi uses every bit of strength in his body to lift his aim and shoot the enemy’s ship right in the center. His Tracer’s left side doesn’t respond to any commands and the only thing that’s left for him to do is cover his team with his right, working gun as he slowly drifts away from the formation, losing control of the damaged robot. Daehwi lets go once the control panel shuts down completely.

 

*

 

Jinyoung isn’t sure when his life became meaningless but at some point, after it had been more than four years since he heard from Daehwi he had lost the sight of what he wanted in life. Every single future plan he ever had, had contained the younger boy’s presence and he was left with nothing as the other wasn’t there. So, now he was 26 years old left with no dreams or desires, just simply trying to survive through each day without reminding himself of something he had lost so long ago. He glanced out of the window of his small, overpriced studio in Seoul he could barely afford with his office job, at the sky that never seemed to be any other color than grey these days, empty-headed and dull. He had considered going to the UN Space Army after he graduated and following Daehwi’s suit to work on some base in Mars, but had given up on it after months turned into years of waiting. The man checks the time and decides he still has the time to have coffee before work. It looks like it’s going to rain today, Jinyoung hasn’t cared about rain for years anymore. The only thing it brought back was the memory of black hair and a twinkling pair of eyes, and his own eyes puffed from crying the next morning.

_July 2 nd, 2055_

_To: Daehwi_

_I just feel like nothing matters anymore…_

Jinyoung erases the message he had begun to type countless of times before throughout the years and grabs for the instant coffee bag. He puts the water boiling and mindlessly turns on the TV while waiting when he hears a faint _bling_ from his phone, signaling a new message received. Jinyoung’s breath hitches in his throat as he opens the message with shaky hands and reads through its contents twice to make sure he really isn’t dreaming. He then lifts his eyes to meet the morning news about a battle on Agartha where three of the four space carriers have been destroyed 8 years ago today, but Lysithea has remained unharmed.


End file.
